RV park, optional?

[missnout]

I f you come across a fifth, rv, or what not that might be a heck of a deal, but it surpasses the 10 year mark that rv places say thats their year limmit for access. Would you go for it, or should a newbe might need to go park once in a while till you get the fill of where to go?

 

[highdesertranger]

basically I wouldn't want to be in an RV park that had the ten year rule. but that's me. is it important for you to go to these parks? that's a question you must answer yourself. highdesertranger

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Usually it's the RV "resorts" that have the 10 year old rule. Most RV "parks" are not so picky.
We weren't into using either when we had our RV. We parked wherever we were able to get by with it.

 

[rvwandering]

If it's in good condition and looks good buy it and don't worry about the ten year rule. We don't go to many private parks but when we have we've never been asked for the year. I think that it's mostly places that consider themselves "resorts" that have that restriction. Even so they can not tell how old your RV is by looking at it. Mostly they use it as an excuse to bar people with RVs that don't meet their standards.

If you want to go to private parks try KOAs and Jellystone. I don't think they have a ten year rule. I've heard that they even let tenters stay! :-D Some state parks are are really good for beginners. They have electric hookups and dump stations and will accept any type of camper.

 

[missnout]

I am glad to hear that, I am not made of money and still looking for that tree. I was a little concerned that I would absolutley need one time to time. And Im assuming dumping tanks if you have them is no biggy

 

[highdesertranger]

hint you need a shovel, mother natures money isn't on a tree it's in the ground. highdesertranger

 

[missnout]

basically I wouldn't want to be in an RV park that had the ten year rule.  but that's me.  is it important for you to go to these parks?  that's a question you must answer yourself.  highdesertranger

Highdesert, if I have it my way Ill never see a rv park. By the way I beleive you have commented on all my posts. Thanks

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Dumping tanks is easy with a bit of practice.
Dump, rinse, and then dump gray tank last.

Some towns have dumps, some truckstops, and even some roadside parks. Often RV parks will let you dump for a few bucks.

 

[rvpopeye]

RV parks that have a 10 year rule are WAY outnumbered by parks that don't care .
I agree with HDR that you don't need any place with the rule ,,,they get water up their nose when it rains anyway !!!

Dumping is available lots of places.
Many RV parks will let you dump cheap or free, some rest areas have free dump stations , most town/city treatment plants will let you dump free ....................there's a book with a listing of free dump stations , don't have a link handy but it's probably at Amazon.
Ask your camping neighbors wherever you are where they are going !

 

[missnout]

Awsome< My estate sale is this weekend, then the house, then im gone

 

[jimindenver]

from what I have read, the rules are used to selectively keep older unkept rigs out. Should your rig look good and well maintained, they would likely let you in.

Also NSF, state and various other campgrounds don't have the restriction.

Last thing is for me, I have no interest in being crammed into a parking lot and they are not going to risk their rigs going where I do. It's a good trade off.

 

[compassrose]

I tend to live in RV parks. I do live in a converted school bus (skoolie) so that kinda kicks the "Private RV parks won't let a school bus in" myth in the ass now doesn't it?

So now the other myth... "If your RV is over 10yo then no RV park will accept it"


ANY PUBLIC CAMPGROUND WILL ACCEPT ANYTHING YOU CARE TO CAMP IN NO MATTER THE MAKE OR AGE

Please remember that. You can even find free public campgrounds (usually one night) with water/electric hookups and sometimes even sewer hookups. Most often a dump station though.

HOW TO FIND A PRIVATE RV PARK THAT WILL ACCEPT YOU IN YOUR _______ (fill in the blank).
This method will work most of the time. Not always but probably 80% - 90% of the time. It will take a little effort on your part. You will have to actually READ the reviews. Always have a backup. This real problem is when you start looking for monthly stays (what I do).

Go to www.rvparkreviews.com
Go to the State that you are interested in.
Next narrow it down to the town you are interested in.
Before you start reading the reviews, look to the left and you will see a list of Towns with RV Parks nearby.
Now read the reviews. You are looking for certain keywords: workers, older RV's, semi-permanent, and/or permanent

Actual example of a tourist/snowbird area... (at the time we were in a 33yo Class C... with a food cart)
#1. Click on TX
#2. Click on Rockport (30) - as you can see Rockport has 30 campgrounds. They fill up fast and early in that area. Most of the parks are "older" and not kept up all that well. But the residents are uber snooty as are the operators. We turned up at the beginning of Nov and had trouble with vacancies for Nov and Dec. January thru Spring was full. Had been booked since the winter before. That's what they do in destination areas. Yes, we did have trouble getting a park to stay in. I don't think it was the age so much as the fact we were "trashy food vendors" (What the city official in Portland called us... The one in Rockport called us dirty... Pt Aransas simply looked at us and ignored us when we were trying to get a permit). We spent 3 days in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Fulton before we found a park that would take us, two jeeps, a food cart and the vintage Class C. We spent the next month looking for alternatives (found several) that were NOT in the RVpark reviews. Since we knew we would be there for at least 6 months, we looked at mobile home parks too. Found several that we could stay at. We just couldn't set the food cart up to work in the area. Look in the yellow pages of the phone book. Not all places are in the various listings. Some people keep smaller RV parks secret.
#3. We decided that we did not HAVE to be in the Rockport-Fulton area. So we shifted to the next larger town over (Corpus Christi). Typically I would suggest that you look in the smaller nearby town to the bigger town you want to stay in. But this place was different. Corpus Christi was much friendlier to food vendors. (Back to TX Campgrounds then to Corpus Christi)
#4. Between the rvparkreviews and the yellow pages, we looked at every park in town. We needed a large space to park everything. That kicked a lot of parks out of the running that had no problem with the age of our Class C. We ended up in one that was not listed on RVpark reviews. We found it because we drove past one that we were looking for and were looking for a good spot to turn around at as well as checking out the neighbourhood. We ended up in Shady Grove RV & Mobile Home Park on Waldron Road in Flour Bluff. It was mostly those "dreaded" single wide mobile homes (and older ones too). They seemed to be mostly weekend and vacation people. There were about 6 or so "RV" sites. We had to get our own cable and internet. The electric was metered (that's what all the RV parks are that we looked at). We lived there for 6 months. It was a bigger site than any of the RV parks we looked at. There was no bathhouse. You had to have your own. We did. Tiny but we did. No organized activities. No clubhouse. No campground store but there was a Stripes and a Family Dollar well within easy walking distance, as well as the Public library (I got a card with a letter from the park stating we were staying there), a Dominos and a little Mexican Restaurant. And here is the other tip... click on the "map" designation for the campground listed (on this page click on the first park "Colonia Del Rey" where it says "map"). A google map will pop up with the parks location on it. Move around on the map. You will see it lists various businesses. Go farther SW following the main road (Waldron) and you will see Shady Grove just past the school. Look! An RV park NOT listed in RVpark reviews!


You can see what it looks like from the air. I might have low standards but this was an okay park. It wasn't a resort. But I'm not upscale either. I could put the skoolie in this park (I asked). I'm also not too good to be living next to "workers". I'm not too good to live in a "fish camp" since my great uncle used to own one in FL. I'm not too good to live in a trailer park either since I have lived in more than one single wide mobile home and more than one double wide mobile home as well as what my husband's family called a "shack" fronting the Little TN River.

In NM, I have lived here and here. Both places were safe and quiet. I would stay at both places again. Both places are skoolie and vintage RV friendly. I also suggest that you use your own bathrooms and laundry facilities at both places (for different reasons). My reviews are under "Lornaschinske" and "CompassRose" (pending approval as you have to have more than one review before they will approve any of the reviews). Since I have stayed there, I know for a fact most of the reviews are loaded with BS. In Socorro, I had wifi. I had sewer. I had cable. The "pit bulls" that were mentioned in the review below mine belonged to a family in a skoolie. The dogs were very well behaved and you only saw them when they were walked on a lead. The Roswell park was a good place. We were there from 2011-2015 in the skoolie conversion.

 

[cyndi]

I've found a number of RV parks and resorts with the 10 year rule that allowed my 22 year old class C in. It was in decent shape, but far from perfect.

I think the the economy being what it is most of the parks are not so fussy and it's a way to draw the line, if necessary

 

[Queen]

We just came back from TX through LA, MS, AL, and into FL. Lots of the rest areas on the highway had dump spots, they were free and appeared nice and clean.

 

[66788]

basically I wouldn't want to be in an RV park that had the ten year rule.  but that's me.  is it important for you to go to these parks?  that's a question you must answer yourself.  highdesertranger

I recently went on a trip with a young lady who wanted a shower, so we stayed one night in a fancy RV park in N. California near the Oregon border.   They had the 10 year old rule, but my 1989 Dodge van was parked right in front of the office and the lady said nothing about my van, so I suspect that if your rig is in good shape and looks newer, there won't be any problems.

BTW, that shower cost me $42.00.   I won't be doing that again, as most truck stops have big bathrooms that are very clean for $13.00, and two people is no problem at all.

 

[Tinman74]

I have been camping since 1968 and most of the time my rigs have been 10 years old or older. I now have a 16 year old RoadTrek. Like to stay in State and National parks but have spent a lot nights, probably 50/50 in private campgrounds. In the 47 years only one time a resort would not allow my truck camper,( Fla. near Disney) no problem, went down the road a few miles and got another campground.
I will mention that I have always kept them in prime condition. Other than that one time I have never even had anyone ask how old my rig was.
In fact one time on my way back from Fla with a truck camper that was probably much older than 10 years, I was parked right outside the office and the owner commented oh how nice the rig was. I had just repainted it and striped it to match my truck.
As Compassrose said just "another myth"
Bob

 

[jimindenver]

They are out there so it's not quite a myth. i think it is like a lot of things that get blown out of proportion. Yes it could happen but it is not likely.

 

[ZoNiE]

They are just trying to keep out the riff raff...

 

[Theadyn]

I know our town has an unadvertised dump station near the city park. No sign, just a covered hole across the street, over looked by most all passerby's. You could always ask the locals in whatever town you are in if they know where a dump station is, just a thought.

 

[compassrose]

I know our town has an unadvertised dump station near the city park.  No sign, just a covered hole across the street, over looked by most all passerby's.  You could always ask the locals in whatever town you are in if they know where a dump station is, just a thought.

You would be surprised at what the locals don't know. I once lived in a state park for about 6 months. The locals would ask where we lived and we would say, "out at the State Park" and they invariably would reply "What State Park?". They have been having the county fireworks display out there for years.

So if you want to know where you can dump at and the locals are a bit unaware... http://www.sanidumps.com/